Aaaaaagggggghhhhhh!

[Parsloes 1928 nearly 495]

I remember Johnnie, But who's God?

 

Hmm, I'm sure that as a devoted atheist our norbold must, in the deepest recesses of his brain, fear somehow meeting his maker at the pearly gates... It can't make it any better: the prospect of Johnnie Hoskins turning out to be his maker!!

 

BTW, I have personal experience of the time norbold was indeed closest to death... You MUST remember that lift, norb..?!!

[lucifer sam 3,953]

If Johnnie Hoskins is God, then Norbold is heading for hell, after daring to question West Maitland's claim to be the first speedway meeting.

 

All the best

Rob

[norbold 7,098]

From the latest issue of "Opposite Lock", the magazine of the World Speedway Rider's Association:

 

The article is titled "Darrell Mason's Tribute to the Past...Maitland 1923 still with us to this day."

 

And begins: "It is not often one os given the opportunity to delve back to the past, in this case to visit the recognised home of where our sport began its life, in Maitland, New South Wales, Australia almost 87 years ago, on December 15, 1923, to be precise."

 

There is a second article from Darrell, titled, "All our Yesterdays...Veterans from the past revisited. WSRA pays tribute to the golden greats of a bygone era."

 

This article begins: "When our recognised 'father of speedway', the late John Stark Hoskins, first introduced the sport from Australia to these shores...."

 

 

I'm just off to slit my wrists...

[speedyguy 20]

From the latest issue of "Opposite Lock", the magazine of the World Speedway Rider's Association:

 

The article is titled "Darrell Mason's Tribute to the Past...Maitland 1923 still with us to this day."

 

And begins: "It is not often one os given the opportunity to delve back to the past, in this case to visit the recognised home of where our sport began its life, in Maitland, New South Wales, Australia almost 87 years ago, on December 15, 1923, to be precise."

 

There is a second article from Darrell, titled, "All our Yesterdays...Veterans from the past revisited. WSRA pays tribute to the golden greats of a bygone era."

 

This article begins: "When our recognised 'father of speedway', the late John Stark Hoskins, first introduced the sport from Australia to these shores...."

 

 

I'm just off to slit my wrists...

 

 

The good old perpetuating myth raises its head again. It doesn't matter how many times an item is corrected, the original statement is always accepted. That's because often researchers and others do not know the original item is wrong nor that a subsequent correction may have been made - often months or even years later, frequently not at the original source.

 

Oh, by the way Norbold, IT IS APRIL 1!!!!

Edited April 1, 2010 by speedyguy

[iris123 20,935]

From the latest issue of "Opposite Lock", the magazine of the World Speedway Rider's Association:

 

The article is titled "Darrell Mason's Tribute to the Past...Maitland 1923 still with us to this day."

 

 

I'm just off to slit my wrists...

Who is this guy Mason?Seem to recall a rabid article from him on the subject of Egon Müller.Thought he was a New Zealander,so does he mean NZ when he writes "these shores"? Maybe Hoskins played an important role in introducing speedway to NZ?I have no idea how the sport started there

[lucifer sam 3,953]

From the latest issue of "Opposite Lock", the magazine of the World Speedway Rider's Association:

 

The article is titled "Darrell Mason's Tribute to the Past...Maitland 1923 still with us to this day."

 

And begins: "It is not often one os given the opportunity to delve back to the past, in this case to visit the recognised home of where our sport began its life, in Maitland, New South Wales, Australia almost 87 years ago, on December 15, 1923, to be precise."

 

There is a second article from Darrell, titled, "All our Yesterdays...Veterans from the past revisited. WSRA pays tribute to the golden greats of a bygone era."

 

This article begins: "When our recognised 'father of speedway', the late John Stark Hoskins, first introduced the sport from Australia to these shores...."

 

I'm just off to slit my wrists...

 

Norbold, all you can do is to educate people to the way things actually began.

 

This Darrell Mason chap is remarkably uninformed for someone writing such an article. I think we need an article for a certain Norman Jacobs in that magazine to put the record straight.

 

All the best

Rob

[mickthemuppet 976]

In all these postings on when Speedway first started nobody has said where the word "speedway" actually came from and when. As far I can tell the word was first used during the 1890's in USA. It was defined as a stadium or arena for the purposes of Motor car or cycle racing. The word broadside also came into being around the same period of time. Even today the some stadiums are still called speedway. This would seem to suggest that these were the first Speedway meetings but where were they will probably never know. There is a stadium at a place called Speedway ,which has a stadium so perhaps it was there?

Certainly the first meeting was not at High Beech as we are lead to believe. Funnily enough it was billed as Dirt track racing

I would think that the meeting at Ipswich Portman Road on 2nd July 1904 has much more credence, as the first in this country. In his book "Ipswich Speedway, the first Fifty years" Colin Barber says there were 2 semi final races and a final. The first race was won by F E Barker, averaging 30 mph. He also won the final .

Two similar meetings were held at Canning Town Cycle Track in 1905 on a cinder surface which again puts the origins of Speedway in doubt.

There is also a report that the first recorded meeting was at Pietermaritzburg in South Africa in 1907

[speedyguy 20]

Who is this guy Mason?Seem to recall a rabid article from him on the subject of Egon Müller.Thought he was a New Zealander,so does he mean NZ when he writes "these shores"? Maybe Hoskins played an important role in introducing speedway to NZ?I have no idea how the sport started there

 

 

Darrel Mason is a south Londoner now resident in Majorca. One-time printer and also the South London Press speedway reporter at the start of the 1970s. He was well-known around Wimbledon Speedway - something of a cult figure in fact at one time. A really great chap.

[speedyguy 20]

In all these postings on when Speedway first started nobody has said where the word "speedway" actually came from and when. As far I can tell the word was first used during the 1890's in USA. It was defined as a stadium or arena for the purposes of Motor car or cycle racing. The word broadside also came into being around the same period of time. Even today the some stadiums are still called speedway. This would seem to suggest that these were the first Speedway meetings but where were they will probably never know. There is a stadium at a place called Speedway ,which has a stadium so perhaps it was there?

Certainly the first meeting was not at High Beech as we are lead to believe. Funnily enough it was billed as Dirt track racing

I would think that the meeting at Ipswich Portman Road on 2nd July 1904 has much more credence, as the first in this country. In his book "Ipswich Speedway, the first Fifty years" Colin Barber says there were 2 semi final races and a final. The first race was won by F E Barker, averaging 30 mph. He also won the final .

Two similar meetings were held at Canning Town Cycle Track in 1905 on a cinder surface which again puts the origins of Speedway in doubt.

There is also a report that the first recorded meeting was at Pietermaritzburg in South Africa in 1907

 

 

The word speedway was in fact a description for a venue where motorcycles and cars could race, origins in the USA. The word was adopted sometime in the late 1920s to describe the motorcycle sport although elsewhere in the world, especially USA, Australia and New Zealand it embraces other small oval motorsports besides solo motorcycles.

[norbold 7,098]

In all these postings on when Speedway first started nobody has said where the word "speedway" actually came from and when. As far I can tell the word was first used during the 1890's in USA. It was defined as a stadium or arena for the purposes of Motor car or cycle racing. The word broadside also came into being around the same period of time. Even today the some stadiums are still called speedway. This would seem to suggest that these were the first Speedway meetings but where were they will probably never know. There is a stadium at a place called Speedway ,which has a stadium so perhaps it was there?

Certainly the first meeting was not at High Beech as we are lead to believe. Funnily enough it was billed as Dirt track racing

I would think that the meeting at Ipswich Portman Road on 2nd July 1904 has much more credence, as the first in this country. In his book "Ipswich Speedway, the first Fifty years" Colin Barber says there were 2 semi final races and a final. The first race was won by F E Barker, averaging 30 mph. He also won the final .

Two similar meetings were held at Canning Town Cycle Track in 1905 on a cinder surface which again puts the origins of Speedway in doubt.

There is also a report that the first recorded meeting was at Pietermaritzburg in South Africa in 1907

Yes, where the name speedway came from is, of course, of historical interest as is why and how the sport we know today became known as speedway. More research needed there I think. Incidentally the 19 February 1928 meeting was billed as Dirt Track Racing at "King's Oak" Speedway, so the term speedway was used at that meeting.

 

When you say "certainly the first meeting was not at High Beech" it depends what you are taking as your definition of speedway. If it is no brakes, sliding round corners on loose dirt tracks then as I have said I believe it was at High Beech on either 7 or 9 April 1928, though not on 19 February. I'm not sure why you should give credence to Ipswich any more than say Preston Park (Brighton) 1901 or Shepherd’s Bush (London), 1902. But none of these meetings featured what I would say are the necessary ingredients for speedway.

 

How would you define speedway, Mick and why Ipswich particularly rather than other early examples of motor bikes racing round small oval circuits?

[speedyguy 20]

Yes, where the name speedway came from is, of course, of historical interest as is why and how the sport we know today became known as speedway. More research needed there I think. Incidentally the 19 February 1928 meeting was billed as Dirt Track Racing at "King's Oak" Speedway, so the term speedway was used at that meeting.

 

When you say "certainly the first meeting was not at High Beech" it depends what you are taking as your definition of speedway. If it is no brakes, sliding round corners on loose dirt tracks then as I have said I believe it was at High Beech on either 7 or 9 April 1928, though not on 19 February. I'm not sure why you should give credence to Ipswich any more than say Preston Park (Brighton) 1901 or Shepherd’s Bush (London), 1902. But none of these meetings featured what I would say are the necessary ingredients for speedway.

 

How would you define speedway, Mick and why Ipswich particularly rather than other early examples of motor bikes racing round small oval circuits?

 

 

Easy to see why the name speedway was adopted for solo bikes and other types of motor sports using the small dirt track ovals. Speedway is a name that rightly conjures up something fast and exciting.

Edited April 2, 2010 by speedyguy

[Nigel 38]

trouble is ... one sermon wont covert the heathen (no jokes about Cradley please) Norman we need to get the story out to a wider audience.. need a few websites to host it . The fact that Darrell thingy wrote a column and was a speedway corespodent says it all ...another journalist .. not a historian. just used to writing bumf for the general public ..just filling column inches...

 

O Maitland Maitland were for art thou West Maitland ...for thou art nought but a 700yrd (640m) trotting track covered in Grass (With apologies to Will Spokeshave)

 

An article in a British motorcycle magazine.. From an Englishman Racing the USA... says racing on 800yd (half mile) tracks with a top surface of softish earth with riders skid turning the bends.. called dirt track racing, would do well if introduced into this country.. the date of the article 1923 yes 1923.

 

Portman rd ..just one of many race meetings on rolled cinder athletic and cycling tracks in the early years of the twentieth century .

 

An advert for High Beech feb 1928... says .. as seen in Australia and the USA

 

Time to fire up the Tardis ..back to West Maitland 1923. someone called Hoskins is starting a brand new sport.

Edited April 11, 2010 by Nigel

[Nigel 38]

This may be of interest?

 

Here is another early dirt track race:-

A 1 mile trotting track "The Empire City" Yonkers, New York 1903

Hard packed surface (contemporary photo).

 

There was a lot of motorcycle racing on the concrete velodromes in 1903, Canning town London, Aston Villa, Bristol, Workington etc. Also Fallowfields which I think was a flat hard rolled cinder track?. Much racing in France also.

 

Bristol may have been the first track in the world or at least in England to suffer a major crash with fatalities. In May 1903 the Bristol velodrome (concrete) which had only shallow banking was the scene of 2 fatalities when 2 riders collided mid turn and careered off, shot over the barricade and killed two boys, also seriously injuring 7 other spectators and a rider. Sounds very similar to the Great Velodrome disaster in New York.

 

 

Have a nice easter speedway history fans ...if the weather lets you

[speedyguy 20]

The fact that Darrell thingy wrote a column and was a speedway corespodent says it all ...another journalist .. not a historian. just used to writing bumf for the general public ..just filling column inches...

 

 

It is the columns of so-called bumf now being written that in 50 years (if there's still speedway!) that will be quoted by speedway historians. Don't decry Darrell Mason (he's not thingy - show some respect). The present in the future will be the past. Darrell Mason has played a role in helping to achieve history by his writings of the 1970s.

Edited April 11, 2010 by speedyguy

[Nigel 38]

It is the columns of so-called bumf now being written that in 50 years (if there's still speedway!) that will be quoted by speedway historians. Don't decry Darrell Mason (he's not thingy - show some respect). The present in the future will be the past. Darrell Mason has played a role in helping to achieve history by his writings of the 1970s.

 

Darrell thingy ....was just tonge in cheek ... a sense of humour is useful.,. I have to admit to being a little devil at times

 

Obviously he is an acquaintance of yours.. you seem more upset than Darrell himself, who probably could not care less what is written on this forum (if he has any sense he wont)

 

My apologies to your good self ...I had no intention of upsetting you.

 

My remarks were meant as a critique of his writings not an attack on the person.

 

However .. its unlikely that Speedway historians will be quoting what you refer to as so-called bumf, except those who wish to repeat myths.

 

The positions of Historian and Journalist are IMO ill at ease with each other. One searches for the truth, the other does not let truth stand in the way of a good story.

 

I have read the WSRA article ...it is obvious the writer knew his readers and wrote accordingly; Somewhat Sycophantic... but then Ian Hoskins is most likely a reader !!!!

 

It was nowhere near as bad as the eulogy to another former promoter in a recently published Speedway ""History"" book.... that had me reaching for a paper bag

Edited April 11, 2010 by Nigel